The present invention relates to tobacco harvesting and, more specifically, to a tobacco harvester with a stationary head to defoliate the lower tobacco leaves and a remotely controlled, vertically positioned, head to harvest the middle and upper tobacco leaves.
It has long been desired to reduce the amount of manual labor, time and expense associated with the harvesting of tobacco leaves. Harvesting of tobacco leaves has progressed significantly through the years. In the past, workers typically walked through the tobacco fields hand picking ("cropping" or "priming") the ripe tobacco leaves. Tobacco leaves on the stalk ripen at different times. The leaves ripen progressively from the bottom to the top of the stalk thereby necessitating multiple passes through the field during the harvesting season in order to remove progressively higher swaths of leaves from each stalk as they ripen.
Mechanized platforms were introduced which carried the tobacco pickers through the field. Although the tobacco was still hand picked, the mechanized platform allowed the pickers to complete their several passes through the tobacco fields at a faster rate.
Mechanized platforms gave away to mechanized harvesters which mechanically cut or stripped leaves from the stalk. However, the replacement of human pickers by mechanized harvesters has made the selective harvesting of only the ripe tobacco leaves more difficult. Additionally, size and shape of tobacco leaves differs as a function of their position on the stalk, making it difficult to use a single cutting mechanism.
Mechanized harvesters with replaceable cutting or defoliating units permitted the harvester to be set up to harvest a specific type leaf from the tobacco stalk. For example, the lowest leaves on the tobacco plant, known as "sand lugs", are more efficiently picked with a narrower or shorter size defoliating paddle or blade than are the larger leaves at the top of the tobacco plant. The defoliating blades or paddles of the typical harvester used to strip or cut the sandlugs from the tobacco stalk are firm and slender. Harvesting of the middle leaves required the manual replacement of the sandlug defoliating paddles with paddles suitable for the harvesting of the broader shape of the middle leaves. It was also common to manually replace the defoliating paddles with steel blades to more efficiently remove the middle and upper leaves from the tobacco stalk.
Additionally, the height of the harvesting head which held the defoliating paddles or steel blades had to be raised progressively higher throughout the tobacco harvesting season as the tobacco leaves were harvested higher and higher on the stalk.
The manual installation of the appropriate defoliating paddles or steel blades, combined with the necessary vertical adjustment of the harvesting heads, typically required several hours of preparation prior to harvesting. Once harvesting begun, any subsequent vertical adjustment of the harvesting head required stopping the harvester.
The introduction of mechanized tobacco harvesters also required a change in the way tobacco was planted. The physical size of the mechanized harvester grew as mechanized harvesters were developed which could harvest more than one row of tobacco in a single pass through the field. As a result, the typical tobacco field is planted with every fifth row missing to allow for the passage of the mechanized harvesters through the fields.
The present invention obviates the need to manually replace the defoliating paddles or blades. Additionally, the configuration of the present invention allows the harvester to straddle two adjacent rows of tobacco plants, thereby eliminating the necessity of not planting the fifth row of tobacco plants. Importantly, the height of the harvesting head can be adjusted remotely from the operator station while the harvester is in motion, thereby quickly adapting the tobacco harvester to harvest any selected portion of the tobacco stalk.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel tobacco harvester and method which is capable of removing all the leaves of from the tobacco stalk without the necessity of manually replacing the defoliating paddles or blades.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel tobacco harvester and method in which the height of the harvesting head may be remotely adjusted while the harvester in operating.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel system and method for harvesting tobacco which requires reduced set-up time and effort.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel tobacco harvester and method permitting the planting of every row in the field thereby maximizing the amount of tobacco planted.
These and many other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the appended drawings, and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.